Partnered in Deception
by Heelee1983
Summary: Elliot listens in on a conversation, but leaves too soon to get the full picture. Will Olivia and Elliot ever let each other know how they really feel? Definitely E/O!
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: Hi, this is my first fanfiction attempt! I hope you like it!_

Elliot rounded the corner heading towards the gym. He was about to go inside when he heard something that made him stop in his tracks. "Well, aren't you even a little interested in Elliot?" It had been Casey Novak's voice and he could guess who she was speaking to. He waited for a reply, but all he heard was silence. He wanted to scream for her to answer the damn question. He dug his nails into his wrist instead. He felt closer to her than ever before and he felt that maybe, finally, they could cross the boundary of their partnership. Her silence was killing him. "Olivia, come on!" he heard Casey say again.

"No, I'm not interested in Elliot." The words cut right through him. "Nothing ever happened and nothing ever will. He's...he's Elliot." He heard some laughing then and he thought it would have been easier on him if she had just cut him open, shot him, anything else. He walked off in a furious haze. She didn't want him, fine. He didn't want her either.

Only he did. He wanted her more than anything and now she had confirmed that she felt nothing for him.

He didn't know it was nervous laughter from Liv or that Casey laughed louder to cover up just how nervous the laughter was because Munch and Fin were in there too. Munch had started ribbing on Olivia that maybe there was something more going on between them and Casey had just joined right in without thinking. She quickly changed the subject to it being "that time of the month," and Fin and Munch were gone in less than 30 seconds. "Sorry," she said once they were gone.

"It's fine." Casey eyebrow shut up and then she looked at her knowingly. "Casey..." Suddenly she wanted to just get her feelings out; tell someone the truth. "I love him. Casey, I love Elliot."

Casey's mouth dropped open. She had seen it in her face, but didn't think Olivia would actually admit her feelings. She started to grin. "Does he know anything?"

Olivia raked her fingers through her deep brown curls and bit down on her lower lip."No, he doesn't feel that way about me. I know he still misses Kathy and being home with her and the kids. I'm sure he'll be back together with her any day now."

Casey leaned in and gave her a hug. "C'mon then, let's go out and have a good time tonight." Olivia looked to say goodbye to Elliot and was surprised to find that he had already left. Sighing a little, she shrugged into her leather jacket and left the precinct with Casey.

**/**

Elliot Stabler was jealous. More jealous than he had ever been in his life. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her laughing into the phone, talking animatedly. He wondered what about. That guy did not deserve Liv. _He_ deserved Liv. It had been three weeks since he'd heard her talking with Casey. He was miserable and she was having the time of her life. His fists clenched and he had to remind himself to breathe and unclench. He was about to go over to the coffee machine so he could get closer and hear what she was saying, but was interrupted by Cragen who told him he and Olivia had to go out on a new case and gave him a quick rundown.

When he got started towards Olivia, he watched as she ran a hand though her hair and twisted a few strands around her finger. She did not seem to notice how close he was getting. "I'll see you tonight. I can't wait." She laughed again and he wondered what the hell could be so funny. "No you hang up first." He literally wanted to be sick. Was she for real?

He grabbed the phone and hung up. She looked at him, her eyes widening in surprise and turning into a glare. "Sorry Liv," he said dripping with sarcasm, "but we have to go out on a case. You know, do our jobs." Before she could respond he stormed out the door. It was not the first time that he had insinuated that she wasn't doing a good job lately and she felt her cheeks redden as the sudden anger started to pull at her. She did not know what was going on with him, but she knew he had been treating her like crap lately.

"What was that?" she asked as she stalked outside after him.

His blue eyes seemed to be sparking. "Drop it," he growled. She didn't want to, she really didn't but she did not feel like getting into a screaming match either. She got in the car, but at least she slammed the door for effect. They rode in silence.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: I just wanted to thank you for reading this! I love any reviews! :-)_

The station had practically emptied out. He was hours deep into paperwork and it seemed like there was endless more stretched out before him. Liv had barely said a word to him, which was fine by him, he assured himself. He would keep looking at her and she was always bowed over her paperwork, like he was not even there. All of a sudden she was standing up and stretching. Her desk was cleared.

"You're finished?" he asked incredulously.

"Yeah," she said softly. "I just wanted it gone already. I mean how much paperwork can one person take, right?" He nodded and started to feel a sliver of a smile forming when he heard the loud footsteps approaching.

David Mason walked over and pulled Olivia into a tight hug. "Ready?" Immediately Elliot felt a pang in his chest. So this is why she got everything done so quickly. David was 6'2, about 200 pounds with green eyes and dimples. He looked like he walked right off of a movie set. Elliot started to feel his heart beat faster. There had to be something wrong with him. Elliot stared at him intently. His nose was a little big. No, Elliot thought, really big. Huge even.

Olivia poked him in the arm. "Uh, Elliot, this is David. David, my partner, Elliot." She never liked bringing her dates to the precinct, because Elliot always seemed to be such a looming presence, but David had insisted on picking her up.

"Nice to meet you, Elliot," David said and Elliot noted with more irritation that his voice was as smooth as his handshake. All Elliot could do was muster up a sort of grunt. Olivia almost went to poke him again, but thought better of it when she saw the look he was giving her. He was practically steaming and she could not understand what was going on with him. She turned to David. "I just have to finish this one thing up really quick with Elliot. I'll meet you out front, okay?"

David looked between the two of them and then nodded. "Sure, no problem." He leaned in and kissed her cheek before he left. Once he was out of sight, Olivia looked back towards Elliot.

"You sure you actually finished the paperwork?" He practically spat it out at her.

"Excuse me?" His tone had been dark and angry and hers matched his. She was tired of his constant snide remarks and putdowns.

"Well, I mean it seems pretty convenient that you finished right before your date showed up. I would hope that there aren't errors all over the place. Maybe you want to go over them to be sure?"

Liv felt anger rushing into her. She had been trying so hard not to let him effect her lately, but she knew in her heart that he was. It seemed like their connection was suddenly broken. He barely had anything nice to say to her anymore. Forget nice. She would take civil even. But his eyes and his words all seemed so cold and it was getting to be a bit too much. "I have to go El," she said and started to walk off, feeling her heart hammering in her chest.

He caught up with her and pulled at her arm. "He's a fucking jerk," he all but hissed in her ear.

"You don't know anything about him!" She wanted to leave, but couldn't bare to have him get the last word.

He smiled a little, but it was brimming with darkness. "You're dating him, Liv. That's all I need to know."

Her eyes widened in shock and she sucked in a breath. "You can go to hell Elliot." In a second she was gone. He watched her back as she left, feeling sick. He was a total and complete prick. He just could not seem to control himself anymore. The thought of her with someone else was driving him crazy. And to actually see this guy hugging her, kissing her, in front of him...it just made him forget all reason and common decency. He headed to the gym where he could try to punch and kick all thoughts of her away.

**/**

Liv was leaning next to David on the couch, watching a movie. She honestly did not even know what the movie was about. She had gone out to dinner with David and it had taken all her energy to try to be in the moment with him. All she could think about was Elliot. After dinner she had told him she was really exhausted, but he reminded her that she cancelled two dates with him before and he really just wanted to spend some more time with her. And that was how she found herself back at his place when all she really wanted to do was go to sleep so she could stop seeing Elliot's face, replaying what he said to her.

"Olivia, why do I get the feeling that you wouldn't even be able to tell me who is in this movie?" She felt more than a little guilty. Had she really been so obvious?

"I, uh..." He was smiling at her and she started to laugh. "I guess I really am that tired."

"I can fix that," he said confidently. Without waiting a beat he pulled her face towards his and kissed her. She kissed him back and the kiss became more passionate. Well on his end. She started to wonder what she was doing. She had been trying to convince herself the best way to forget about admitting she loved Elliot was to find someone else. Especially so after he obviously could care less about her. It wasn't fair to David though, so she tried to pull away from him. He just grasped her arms and kissed her harder so she could barely breathe. The next thing she knew his hands were sliding into her pants.

She finally was able to push his face off of her and wriggled out of his hands. "Hey, stop it!" He was gasping in oxygen and at the same time looking at her like she had lost her mind. She glared back at him. "What were you doing?"

"God, what do you think I was doing? I didn't think I had to ask permission to touch you!" He was still breathing hard and it looked like he was struggling to get a hold on himself.

"Yeah...well you do, okay?" She was so tired and it was the best she had at the moment.

"This is our third date, Olivia," he said matter of factly. When she just stared at him he started laughing and said, "Did you think we would wait, what, another few months? It's time."

She shook her head in amazement. She really did know how to pick them. "It's time?" She felt so pathetic all of a sudden, thinking she was being unfair to him when he had been just using her all along. When he suddenly leaned in and slid his hands down her back, she yanked back and smacked him in the face. "It will never be time," she told him as she got up and grabbed her purse.

Her hand had left a swelling red mark across his face. "Bitch!" he hurled at her. She slammed the door behind her, grateful that the tears did not start until she was out onto the street.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Thank you so much for your reviews- I really appreciate them! _

Elliot watched Olivia come in the next morning and sit at her desk. He had been up all night and he still didn't know what to say to her. He had picked up the phone to call her several times and thought about going to her house, but in the end he was just too much of a wreck to do anything. He slowly walked over to her. She was looking at a file so intently that he could practically hear her willing him to leave. "Liv," he began. "I'm just, I'm really sorry."

"It's fine," she muttered, and he shouldn't have expected anything else. She always said she was fine, but he knew she wasn't and neither was he.

"Liv, I was totally out of line." He ran his hands up and down his jeans, trying to think of what else he could say. He _was_ completely out of line, she thought. And apparently completely right, last night being just the latest example. "I hope I didn't ruin the night for you." It made her so mad all of a sudden. That he thought he had that much power as to ruin her night because of a comment he made.

She looked directly into his eyes and forced herself to smile and make it look believable. "You didn't." She took a deep breath and even though saying the lie made her feel slightly ill she choked it out anyway. "Don't worry about it. Really. I had a great time, El...liot." Suddenly El just seemed too intimate.

It stung that she couldn't even use his nickname. He had really screwed things up. It wasn't her fault that she didn't like him, didn't want him. He tried to hang onto that and tell her that he was happy for her, but the words wouldn't come out. "Okay then," he said and tried to keep it light, but he could hear the edge in his voice. She turned back to her file and it was clear their conversation was over.

**/**

Elliot and Olivia were actually laughing. Together. Olivia was relieved that things were finally feeling at least a little more normal. Still, she sometimes felt something from him she had not felt before, like resentment bubbling under the surface. Elliot had casually asked her how things were going between her and David a couple of times over the past few weeks and she had just as casually responded that things were going very well. She didn't know that he was only asking to find out how serious things were getting between them. Every time she told him things were going great it made his stomach turn, but he would act like he was just checking in on a friend.

Olivia hated lying to him, but the thought of telling him that he was right and that David had been a jerk, made her feel like a loser. A failure. She thought David was just a genuinely nice guy who actually liked her, and really all he wanted was to sleep with her. She felt like when it came to men she just couldn't see the full picture.

Fin walked over to them and Munch was right behind them. "We're going out for some drinks. You two wants to come?" The first thought that came to Elliot's mind was that maybe Liv would bring David. "Nah, I think I'm jut going to go home and get some rest."

"How about you, baby girl?" Fin asked.

"Sure, a night out sounds like fun." She turned to Elliot. "Well see you on Monday. Unless of course a case comes up." She smiled at him. "Are you sure you can't come?"

It's Friday night, Elliot thought to himself. Of course she would bring David. Not that long ago he would have gone just to try to beat the guy down, but the truth was that his feelings for her and his jealously was so strong that he felt it would just hurt too damn much. "Yeah, I'm beat. See you Monday."

An hour later Elliot was still at the precinct, practically sulking. Casey, who had been in Cragen's office discussing a case, stopped by his desk on her way out. "What, the crew all leave you behind?"

"No, just tired."

"Same here," she said and it was punctuated with a yawn. "See you."

She started to walk away when Elliot called out to her. He just had to ask her. "Hey, Casey? What do you know about David? I mean, do you really feel he's the right guy for Liv?"

She squinted at him and then shook her head. "David? Liv hasn't seen him in weeks."

_TBC..._


	4. Chapter 4

_She started to walk away when Elliot called out to her. He just had to ask her. "Hey, Casey? What do you know about David? I mean, do you really feel he's the right guy for Liv?"_

_She squinted at him and then shook her head. "David? Liv hasn't seen him in weeks."_

He wasn't sure what he exactly said in response, but quickly made an exit and headed over to Olivia's apartment. The doorman knew him and smiled warmly. "You must be here to see Olivia. She just got in a few minutes ago." That was all Elliot had to hear. The doorman was ready to have a leisurely chat. Elliot on the other hand was fuming inside. "Sorry, in a rush, we'll talk later," he called over his shoulder as he ran up the stairs to her apartment. He was so angry he could hardly see straight.

He knocked loudly on her door. "It's Elliot," he shouted, "open the door!"

Olivia opened the door and took in the sight in front of her. Elliot was wringing his hand while panting and she realized he had run up the ten flights of stairs to get to her apartment. "Why are you screaming? Do you want to wake up all my neighbors?"

Elliot slammed the door shut behind him and leaned in stepping dangerously close to her. "Right now, I just don't give a fuck."

She felt her breath hitch at how close he was to her, but it instantly turned to anger. "What are you doing here, Elliot?"

He stepped back and she couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. She knew that was crazy, because he was acting completely out of control and looking at her like he wanted to rip her head off, and she didn't know why. He started pacing back and forth for about a minute, but to Olivia it seemed like forever. "Why did you tell me you were still seeing David?" Whatever she was expecting him to say, it wasn't that. She started to say something, but closed her mouth. "Don't even try to deny it, Liv. Casey told me you haven't seen him in weeks." His voice got louder and it looked like the vein in his forehead was throbbing.

Suddenly she found her words. "It's none of your business."

"Not my business, huh? My partner looking right at me and lying to my face. How can I trust anything you say?" The fact that he said that made her head spin. This was different and that wan't fair. But he raged on. "What is it Olivia? Decided you wanted to push me away? Did you think I would try something with you? God forbid that would happen," he said and then threw her words back at her. "Because nothing happened and nothing ever will. I'm just Elliot, right?"

"What did you just say?" She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You eavesdropped on my conversation?"

"Yeah, right up until you told Casey I'm just Elliot. _Just,_" he said biting out the words.

"If you're going to listen to a conversation, you should at least listen to the whole thing," she shot back. Then her face turned a deep shade of red remembering exactly what she had confessed. She should be thankful he hadn't stuck around for the rest

"No thanks, I heard more than enough!" He was back to pacing again. He stopped abruptly and got right in her face. "Am I right?"

"No Elliot, you are not," she said through gritted teeth. She could feel the tension shaking through her body.

"Why then, _Olivia_? Why lie about this?" He could feel himself getting louder still and he saw that she automatically stepped away from him. "What are you hiding?" When she did not answer, he got even closer to her. He was feeling a little desperate. If he could get it out of her by intimidating her he would. "I want an explanation and I'm not leaving until I get one. You owe me!"

Finally she felt herself breaking. "What do you want to hear? That he didn't care about me at all? That he just wanted to get in my pants? That he laughed in my face when he realized I thought something more was going on?" Elliot's head reeled back in shock. The tears that she had been holding back started to streak down her face. She brushed them away furiously. "I'm sorry I didn't want to share with you that you were right and I can't seem to find anyone who is actually interested in me for a long term relationship. Okay? Happy?"

Elliot reached out to touch her arm, but she twisted away. "Don't Elliot. I don't need you to be nice to me now after it's clear that you barely seem to tolerate me lately. I don't need you feeling sorry for me."

His heart literally hurt. He wanted to find this guy and punch him in the face for doing that to her. And he was even angrier with himself for hurting her. He had to try to fix this and the way to do that was to tell her the truth and accept her rejection. He deserved that and a lot more. "I am so sorry for the way I've been treating you." He took a deep breath. "The truth is that I was just completely jealous. Jealous out of my mind and I took it out on you. I'm interested in you, Liv. I'm interested in all of you." There, he's said it. A moment ago he thought he could handle her rejection but all of a sudden he felt that when she told him she didn't want him it would tear his heart right out of his chest.

She blinked several times. She could not have just heard right. Elliot did not just tell her that he was jealous, that he wanted to be with her. She was afraid that she had somehow fallen asleep in the middle of their conversation. She shut her eyes tightly. Would he still be there when she opened them? When she finally did he was staring at her, a look of pain clear on his face. "I guess I'll go now," he said slowly.

"No!" she shouted, realizing he had taken her silence to mean she did not feel the same way. "I…I'm interested in you too."

Now it was Elliot's turn to be shocked. It quickly turned into shocked elation and he broke out in a broad smile

They talked for hours about anything and everything. She had never been so open and it was completely freeing.

She looked at the clock. Two am. She took in a deep breath. This was hard, but now that they were being so honest, she felt the urge to tell him everything. Even if it scared her to death. "The conversation you heard that day… Munch and Fin were there too. I couldn't say how I felt in front of them. The part that you missed is when they left and it was just Casey. I told her I loved you." She exhaled.

He pushed her hard against the wall and kissed her. His heart was racing. Never had he ever thought she would say those words to him. He suddenly pulled back and she looked so sad about the gap now between them that his lips curved into a smile. He wanted to close the distance as much as she did, but these words had to be said. "Liv, I love you too. I can't remember a time when I didn't."

Her smile was quick and bright and she was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen in his life. Now he closed the space between them.

**The end :) **


End file.
